Fritz Stiedry (11 October 18838 August 1968) was an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n conductor and composer.

Biography

Fritz Stiedry was born in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

in 1883. While still a law student at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hi ...

, Stiedry's talent for music was noticed by

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...

, who appointed him his assistant at the

Vienna Court Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August Si ...

in 1907. This was followed by other assistant posts, leading to chief conductorships at the operas of

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

. In 1932 he conducted the world premiere of

Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fru ...

's opera ''

Die Bürgschaft "The Pledge" (German: "Die Bürgschaft", ) is a ballad published by the German poet Friedrich Schiller in his 1799 ''Musen-Almanach''. He took the idea out of the ancient legend of Damon and Pythias issuing from the Latin ''Fabulae'' by Gaius Jul ...

''. Stiedry left Germany when

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...

came to power in 1933, and from 1934 to 1937 was principal conductor of the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra. He was involved in rehearsals for the premiere of Shostakovich's Fourth Symphony until the premiere was canceled for reasons, in all probability political, that remain controversial. Some claim that Shostakovich felt Stiedry was unable to deal with the symphony's complexities, but others maintain that the real reason was that

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel ...

officials pressured the composer to withdraw the work.www.sfsymphony.org
In 1937, Stiedry left Leningrad for the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

and the

New Friends of Music Orchestra New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, conducting long-neglected works by

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wor ...

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...

and

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

and premiering

Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

's '' Second Chamber Symphony''. From 1945 onwards he returned to opera, conducting the

Lyric Opera of Chicago Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. It was founded in Chicago in 1954, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox, Nicola Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, with a season that included Maria ...

and the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is opera ...

of New York and co-founding the

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admin ...

Opera Workshop. He died in

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Z ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

in 1968, aged 84. He recorded Haydn's symphonies nos. 67, 80, 99 and 102. His live recording from the Metropolitan Opera of

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

's ''

La forza del destino ' (; ''The Power of Fate'', often translated ''The Force of Destiny'') is an Italian opera by Giuseppe Verdi. The libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on a Spanish drama, ' (1835), by Ángel de Saavedra, 3rd Duke of Rivas, wi ...

'' (omitting the Act I inn scene, as customary there in the 1950s under

Rudolf Bing Sir Rudolf Bing, KBE (January 9, 1902 – September 2, 1997) was an Austrian-born British opera impresario who worked in Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, most notably being General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera in New York ...

) has been transferred to CD.

Works

* ''Der gerettete Alkibiades'', opera * chamber music

Literature

* Holmes, John L. ''Conductors on record'', Victor Gollancz, 1982. * ''Handbuch österreichischer Autorinnen und Autoren jüdischer Herkunft 18. bis 20. Jahrhundert''. Vol. 3, S-Z. Ed.

Österreichische Nationalbibliothek The Austrian National Library (german: Österreichische Nationalbibliothek) is the largest library in Austria, with more than 12 million items in its various collections. The library is located in the Neue Burg Wing of the Hofburg in center of Vi ...

Wien. K. G. Saur, 2002, , p. 1328. * Sadie, Stanley. ''The new Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', Macmillan, 1980. * Lyman, Darryl. ''Great Jews in Music'', J. D. Publishers, 1986. * Sadie, Stanley; Hitchcock, H. Wiley (Ed.). ''The New Grove Dictionary of American Music''. Grove's Dictionaries of Music, 1986. * Myers, Kurtz. ''Index to record reviews 1984–1987'', G.K. Hall, 1989. * Pâris, Alain. ''Dictionnaire des interpretes et de l'interpretation musicale au XX siecle'', Robert Laffont, 1989.

External links

* Article at allmusic.com
Biography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stiedry, Fritz 1883 births 1968 deaths 20th-century classical composers Austrian classical composers Austrian male classical composers Male conductors (music) German expatriates in the Soviet Union Austrian emigrants to Germany Austrian Jews Austrian refugees Jewish classical musicians Jewish musicians Neoromantic composers Austrian opera composers Male opera composers Musicians from Vienna Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States University of Vienna alumni 20th-century Austrian conductors (music) 20th-century Austrian male musicians Refugees from Nazi Germany in the Soviet Union